I have had a gym membership since I was 15 and been a vegetarian since I was 11. I never skip breakfast and I am borderline obsessed with always getting my 8.5 hours of sleep. I rarely eat late at night and drink around 6 bottles of water per day. If this seems pretty healthy for a teenager who still has the metabolism not to care, I will tell you that four months ago, I thought so too.

But every morning still required some fruit juice (if I resisted the urge for coffee) for me to even open my eyes all the way.

And my backpack still had ibuprofen in it 24/7 because about 50% of my days involved headaches by the early afternoon.

And whenever I went to the gym, I always exhausted myself on the treadmill at the same mile mark without improvement.

Then, one night this past summer, one of my best friends invited me over to watch “this documentary on obesity in children.” This didn’t sound like our usual romantic-comedies-on-Netflix night, but I agreed to go over anyway.

That documentary was Katie Couric and Laurie David’s infamous call for a healthier America, "Fed Up," released May 2, 2014. The film focuses on the obesity epidemic in our country’s children, and highlights its cause: sugar. The film condemns the food industry for its overuse of this addictive substance and further explains how we have no escape from it.

I’m not going to get into the politics or logistics of the film because you can watch it for yourself. I’m just going to say that the shocking facts (which I researched myself afterward and discovered to be alarmingly accurate) about how sugar affects our bodies led me to try a sugar detox, just for a week or two. No biggie. It was summer and I didn’t have much to do after all.

What does a sugar detox mean? This means I went out and bought a bunch of fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains, organic eggs, quinoa, and other foods that added sugar couldn’t hide in. Any packaged foods I bought had less than 8g of sugar per serving and had few ingredients (none of which were fake). The only thing I drank was water, as I quickly learned that one of sugar’s main hiding places was in juice and soda.

Here is what happened:

My first full day detoxing I developed a pounding headache, not the usual slight ache, that wouldn’t go away until I went to sleep. I craved anything and everything sweet and it took all my power to snack on carrots and hummus instead of chocolate. These effects lasted the first few days but diminished with each one.

As you can imagine, this was not fun. This was my small, but real, dose of detox to an addictive substance. Yes, like a drug detox. Sugar is 8 times more addictive than cocaine, so kicking that habit isn’t easy.

But after those few days some huge changes happened:

1. I noticed I didn’t feel hungry once during the day.

Without all the crazy amounts of processed sugar messing with my hormones, I had energy all day long and felt no more cravings; I didn’t crash once.

2. I noticed my increased energy at the gym.

All of a sudden, I could run longer and faster without even noticing. I physically felt lighter and my endurance seemed to double.

3. Waking up and getting out of bed became 10 times easier.

Although I always made sure I got sleep before, I now actually felt rested. No more naps in the middle of the day.

4. Gone were my headaches.

Completely. I had become so used to them that it was a weird feeling to be at my 100% best from the moment I woke up to the moment I went to sleep, but that is exactly how I felt.

My experiment was only supposed to last a couple weeks, but upon feeling (and seeing) such a change, I thought, why would I go back? It’s going on four months now, and I feel just as good as when I started. These changes aren’t unique to just me, they are what happens when you break your addiction to sugar.

Aside from these noticeable changes, the benefits are endless, so what are you waiting for? If you go on a sugar detox, you will find yourself developing a preference for fruits and vegetables and an aversion to the heavily sugared processed food that line grocery store shelves. You will become leaner and more physically fit just through regular daily activity, but additionally, exercising will feel much easier (it is not physically possible to keep the weight you work off while addicted to sugar, by the way). You will become ridiculously more productive, and your friends, family, and coworkers be watching you jealously over their third cup of coffee (did I mention you’ll have no more need for caffeine?).

It’s not a diet, it’s just eating right. So go for it. Go all-natural. The guidelines are simple: eat real food and keep your added sugar intake within or below six to nine teaspoons per day. See the results. Feel the results. Good luck!